The effects of gallium additions on microstructures and thermal and mechanical properties of the Sn-9Zn solder alloys are investigated in this study. The results show that the melting temperature of the alloys decreases with the increase in the Ga concentration, while the pasty ranges of the alloys are simultaneously enlarged. By adding a 0.25–0.5 wt.% Ga element, the Sn-matrix region is slightly increased and the Zn-rich phase becomes slightly coarser; however, the overall microstructure is still very similar to that of the Sn-9Zn alloy. It is found that, when the Ga concentration is less than 0.50 wt.%, the ultimate tensile strength and elongation are maintained at the same values. The addition of a 0.25–0.50 wt.% Ga to the Sn-9Zn alloy also leads to small cup and cone fracture surfaces which exhibit near-complete ductile fracturing. With the addition being increased to 0.75 wt.%, larger cup and cone fractures are observed. The 1.00 wt.% Ga alloy has lower strength and ductility due to the coarser and nonuniform microstructures. However, the fracture surfaces of the 1.00 wt.% Ga alloy show partial cleavage and a partially dimpled fracture.
The melting temperature, microstructures, and mechanical properties of the Sn-Zn-0.5Ag-0.5Ga, Sn-Zn-0.5Ag-0.45Al and Sn-Zn-0.5Ga-0.45Al lead-free solders were investigated. The results indicate that the addition of 0.5 wt% Ag to the Sn-Zn based alloys destroy the eutectic structure and results in the formation of Ag-Zn compound and hypoeutectic structure. The variation in the microstructure lowers the UTS. By the addition of Al the UTS and elongation of the 0.5Ag-0.45Al alloy can be decreased due to the Al diffused to the interface of the Ag-Zn compound/Sn-Zn eutectic structure to form Al-Zn compound. The 0.5Ga-0.45Al alloy shows a typical eutectic structure with the light contract β-Sn and the darker needle-like phase, as well as a small amount of Al-Zn phase with a near diamond shape. Gallium uniformly distributes in the Sn matrix and Zn rich phases. The 0.5Ga-0.45Al solder had the highest UTS and elongation, while 0.5Ag-0.45Al had the lowest UTS and elongation. The results indicate that Ga and Al exhibits prominent influence on the microstructure as well as the mechanical properties of the solders.
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